Girls tennis: Palatine's Kawai poised for big tournament finale
Just three seasons ago, an unknown student who'd moved from Japan joined the Palatine girls tennis team.
It didn't take Asuka Kawai long to become extremely well known in high school tennis.
As a freshman, she took the Mid-Suburban League by storm and went ont to notch three consecutive conference titles at No. 1 singles, three-consecutive sectional titles and three state tournament appearances.
And now she's preparing for what will be her final state tournament effort, which is hosted by Buffalo Grove High School and begins at Mid-Suburban League courts Thursday morning.
Kawai will graduate early from Palatine, after this school year. The finality of the situation seems to be sharpening her focus.
"I've been planning to graduate early since I got here," Kawai said. "My dad is moving back due to (Japan) over visa stuff, but since I'm going to college out here they can provide me with a student visa."
With the combination of her performance with the racket and in the classroom, Kawai has verbally agreed to bring her talents to the Illinois. She plans to major in aviation and aerospace engineering. Other schools she deliberated over included Harvard, Purdue and Rice.
Although she makes it look easy both academically and athletically, Kawai has had significant hurdles in her way. The Pirate senior's native tongue is Japanese.
"It was difficult in the beginning," Kawai said. "I used to live in England for five years. I learned basic English there --greetings like 'hello,' 'goodbye,' 'thank you.' It was definitely hard for me. I was also worried about making friends and being able to communicate. The people in Palatine are so nice and it was amazing to be here the last few years.
"They accept people who don't speak English. Since I played tennis, I made a lot of friends. Right before state (my freshman year), everyone was out there cheering me on and wishing me good luck. They made it easier than I was expecting. My best memory has been spending time with my teammates and cheering them on."
Kawai has won nearly 100 matches, in the process defeating some of the top talent in Illinois high school tennis. Last year, she finished third in the state tournament. According to Palatine coach Jim Lange, in the current season Kawai won every tournament in which she played while outscoring her opponents 196-19.
"In terms of kids I've seen play, there's no one I could compare her to," said Lange. "She's really unique. I think Deerfield's coach Josh Leighton described it best - he said, 'She plays how men's pro tennis was played in the late 1980s and early 90s, where she holds the baseline and hits really hard.'
"Asuka will hit a winner more times than not. She's got more of an old-school game. She really holds the baseline and takes the ball early. It's really fun to watch when she's into it, firing on all cylinders."
Two out the four of Kawai's career losses in the last three years have been against state champions (Hinsdale Central's Isabella Lorenzini last fall, and Carmel's Brienne Minor the year before). Last year, Kawai bounced back stong when she played Chicago Latin's Alessandra Bianco in the third-place match.
"I'm pretty proud of her third-place performance," Lange said. "The Lorenzini match, things weren't clicking. The third-place match, Asuka won 6-0 in the first set and then (Bianco) retired. (Kawai) bounced back so well mentally."
Even for such an accomplished player, there have been plenty of firsts for Kawai this season. Kawai lost the first regular-season match in her high school career against the top-ranked player in the tournament, Michelle Bacalla of Niles North, 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, 10-8. Kawai defeated Bacalla in the state tournament a year earlier in the quarterfinals 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Another new element to Kawai's experience was that her freshman sister Kanae played on the No. 1 doubles team with Ky Oreshkin. Kanae and Oreshkin nabbed a runner-up finish in the MSL tournament and nearly made it to state.
"It was definitely weird to have her on the same team as me," Kawai said. "Since she's my sister, I care about her and I wanted to watch and see how she was doing. So it was kind of a distraction in a way since she was always playing next to me. It was hard for me to stay in my zone because I always wanted to just sit and watch. Even my mom was saying, 'You keep looking at Kanae when you play.' "
Lange says a high point this fall was Asuka Kawai's match against Evanston's Anastasia Goncharova.
"(Asuka) played in the best match I've ever been a part of," Lange said. "She knew she had to win, for tournament seeding. They were hitting great and were having great rallies."
The first set took about an hour, and Kawai lost 6-7 (7-4). Then the plot thickened.
"Asuka came back and won 6-4 in the second set. She had a mental breakdown and finds herself down 4-1 and then 5-1. Anastasia got match point at 40-30 (in the next game), and Asuka fends off the point. And then the comeback is on. She not only wins that game and moves to 5-2, but rattles off five wins after that.
"When she gets in the zone there's not much you can do. The mental toughness (Asuka) had in that match was incredible."
As the state tournament splits into a 1A and 2A format, the field of 64 will be a more difficult road to journey down. But Kawai is ready for anything, including Thursday's 9 a.m. opener against Wheaton Warrenville South's Emily Orlove.
"The very beginning of high school, I wasn't as mentally stable on the court," Kawai said. "I was missing a lot of balls. The past year has great, and every time I've lost a match or game it has been a factor that improves me and motivates me.
"Physically I have to take care of myself and make sure I don't have any injuries. My mom has been great taking care of the nutrition part. I can't think about winning. I have to take it match by match. If I think of day three it might not happen - and if it doesn't happen, I'd feel way more upset. That's not what I want. I always want to play my best tennis, get pumped and dedicate myself to the match I'm playing."